Monday, 21 February 2011

Surly Saturday
Its been an overcast dreary week with a lot of rain. Trails everywhere are saturated but the beaches and sandy coastal trails were mud free as always...
Went cycling with friend Jason around the coast at Gullane, Jason riding the pugsley as interested in getting one so i rode the Karate Monkey 29er...
Because of the rain i took pictures with the Tachyon sports camera so excuse the quality...
Out onto the Nature Reserve and an incoming tide kept us near the high tide line...

Jason's grin as he rolled onto the beach and just kept rolling through the soft sand was what i expected to see as i still get it too!,
Meanwhile my 29er was still moving but under a lot of hard effort, a quick roll down the dune path out at the point showed the difference between the 2 bikes and the tyre tracks showed the difference...

Along the beach and apart from alongside the incoming tide i was struggling to keep moving easily while the pugsley kept on rolling...

Jason also loved the 8 speed Alfine Hub,and agreed an internal gear hub seems the way to go for beach riding.
We rode for another hour around the soft sandy trails above the coastline where the 29er was unable to climb the soft sandy trails and had me off and alongside running along after a disappearing pugsley!, my legs were like lead by the end of the day.
Bitten by the the Bug!...expect to see another pugs soon -:)

Here's some film from the day...

On Any Sunday...
Back down to Peffersands on Sunday via Scoughall...

Old WW2 Coastal Defence checkpoint, gateway to fun...

Time for some techie rock riding out to something i have wanted to visit for a long time and today's low tide of 1.2 meters should reveal it...

A lot of sand washed out from the dunes covers some of the rocks making it a bit easier to ride...

Got a good way out from the coastline..

Still a bit to go but out on the exposed reef ahead i can see what im looking for...

Ship ahoy!...

This is according to the RCHMS website the wreck of the Iron Steam ship PODEROSA which ran aground on 27th November 1896...

Massive boiler...

732 tons in weight and had a crew of 17 men,it was on its way from Grimsby to Grangemouth when it ran aground on the reef and broke up...

Be good to come out again at a really low tide and have a better look, basicly i was on the sea floor here as you can see by the kelp, here is some film which shows its size...

Tide was coming in fast out here so time to get moving...back on the bike and over the rocks towards the coastline...

Up above the dunes on the Headland a row of old Telephone poles lead to the old Coastgaurd Lookout...

Researching the Steam Ship wreck its understandable why this was built with dozens of wrecks recorded here along the coast...

Along the coastline to Peffersands...

And remember the wooden fishing boat wreck Davie and i found last week here in the Peffer Burn?...

Well look at this, after a week of strong swells its gone!...

Vanished back under the sand...thats at least 2 feet of sand moved to cover the wreck, still working on its name as several wooden ships are recorded around here,

Some of the boats wrecked along this coastline were lured ashore by `wreckers` who lured boats onto the rocks using lanterns, you can read a bit more about this and an amusing story of another ship wreck on the coast here over on my other blog; No Through Road

Around the Peffer and in the woods are lines of WW2 Coastal defence Anti Tank Blocks,sitting on top of a block is a `Dragons teeth` anti tank obstacle...

There are more of both types of obstacles in a line back onto Peffersands beach...

Down the beach alongside the frothy incoming tide...

I can sit and watch waves forever...it is so calming,and the power of the sea to move stuff is amazing...

Along the secret trail and around the point at Sandy Hirst. The row of rocks here was i read supposed to once be a fish trap, small rock shelters have been built by Wildfowlers shooting...

On the shoreline a WW2 Army screw in pole,often used for barbed wire fencing...

With the southerly breeze it made sense to reride north back along the coast to Scoughall and enjoy the roar of the sea...a great half days ride...
Happy Laddie...

Sunday, 13 February 2011

Saturday was another cracking day to be on the coast.Glorious sunshine and a big swell producing some big waves...I met Davie at Tyninghame to go for a beach ride. The local woods and trails are now saturated with all the rain from the previous evening so i cycled along by road.As always here once along the sandy coastline and woods you wouldn't know there had been a lot of rain.We rode around to the River Tyne where it enters Hedderwick sands at Links Woods...

Across the Tyne on the shoreline at Mosshouse Point was this retired man i have met before who is often walking the coast here and bags up rubbish.He should be publicly acknowledged for his good efforts...The Rangers used to do this once and the coasts were a lot cleaner...

Riding along the shoreline at Heckies Hole we followed the High tide line around through the reed marshes that were very wet but ok for tyre grip and Davie remarked he never believed soft terrain would be ride able before getting a pugsley,also our tracks left less marks than the sunken foot prints of walkers, should of filmed this to show people but always a next time.onto Sandy Hirst to ride around the point.low tide wasn't for over 2 1/2 hours...

Around the point we stopped and went and searched for a WW2 machine gun pillbox that i haven't been able to find for a while since i found out about it...

Here is a picture of it someone took in 2007 that is on Flickr...

Sea Buckthorn must be hiding it as we didn't find it.back along the coast towards Tyne Sands...

Along the secret trail above the coastline and here at a ruin wall i bypassed last year i turned over a rock...

And found this cross carved on the underside...wonder who carved this and how long ago?...

So far we had been accompanied by the roar of the sea and out around St Baldreds Cradle was indeed some big waves rolling in...

Some film of the big swell...

Along the nice wee bit of sandy singletrack above the coast and we dropped down onto the beach at Bathan`s Strand and rode up Ravensheugh Sands under clearing skys...

We stopped at the dunes at Peffer Sands...

I had a wee play rolling down, good fun!...

There steeper than they look as you can see by my roll out speed on some film...

At the Peffer Burn something i have never seen before has popped out the moving sand.A wreck of an old ship...

Its about 20 meters long so may be what was known as a Fifie...an open top sail powered fishing boat.built from around the 1850s.Seen some of the other bits of this wreck here but never the main vessel...

Hopefully we can find out what ship it is,Davies father being a fisherman may know of it or someone who does.Lots of bases of WW2 coastal protection Anti Glider Poles have appeared in the fast running Burn,in spate after the rain last night...

We both managed to cross with dry feet and rode along to the old WW2 Machine Gun Post thats slid down the washed out Dunes here...

Built with Niddrie Bricks from Edinburgh...

The view back down the way we had come was fantastic with the sun shining on the wet sand and the rolling surf with its spray in the air...

The coast becomes more rocky now along to Seacliff..

Wouldnt want to be under this WW2 coastal defence anti tank block when i falls down...

Here at Scoughall Rocks (pronounced Skoal- as in the Lager) is the natural Scoughall Harbour,i have took a picture of the rocks here before but Davie pointed out its name...

Rather than riding over the rocks we took the path up into Seacliff Estate.good views with a bit of hieght gained...

About Me

I live in East Lothian, S.E. Scotland.
I fill my time with my hobbies, interests and passions. Often cycling along the coast here. I like to enjoy all interests of the coast, Its scenery, wildlife, local history, with my other interests in art and music when out and about...
Please excuse the bad grammar, i am working on it!
email; coastkid71 AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk